One Woman Event

I just read about this at CreativeGene and wanted to write about it here right away because I think Jasia has come up with a wonderful idea but time is short! I realize that many of you who stop by here are not very interested in genealogy but I urge you to read this as it is about honoring a special woman in your life or past. I hope many of you will participate!

A Women's History Challenge

Today, March 1st, is the start of Women's History Month. As genealogists and family historians, we often look to historical events to give context to the lives of our ancestors. Because women were often at home taking care of the children while the men folk were out back in the garage inventing cars, or far away from home marching across battlefields, they often weren't in positions to accomplish noteworthy things... except for an exceptional few. But their lives were impacted by the events around them and they in turn impacted the lives of their husbands and children in the course of everyday life. This month we have a chance to honor women, not only the ones whose accomplishments have made headlines but the ordinary and extraordinary women in our own family histories as well.

March 8th is International Women's Day. Here in America it's not a holiday typically celebrated with flowers and candy, though elsewhere in the world it is. From the Wikipedia entry for International Women's Day:

International Women's Day (IWD) is marked on 8 March every year. It is a major day of global celebration for the economic, political and social achievements of women.

Started as a political event, the holiday blended in the culture of many countries (primarily Russia and the countries of former Soviet bloc). In some celebrations, the day lost its political flavour, and became simply an occasion for men to express their sympathy and love to the women around them - somewhat similar to Western Mother's Day and St Valentine's Day mixed together. In others, however, the political and human rights theme as designated by the United Nations runs strong, and political and social awareness of the struggles of women worldwide are brought out and examined in a hopeful manner.

Personally, I think one of the best ways for anyone to honor the women in their lives (friend or relative) or their female ancestors, is in print. Here's an idea...

One Woman
Compose a poem, write a tribute, share a memory, post a photo, or create a digital scrapbook page for One Woman. Wouldn't it be a wonderful tribute to women's history if all bloggers everywhere took the time to write something about One Woman that impacted their life on International Women's Day, March 8th? (... and then submit it to the Carnival of Genealogy... even better!) We could fill the blogosphere with tributes to women who might otherwise have fallen into obscurity. Sisters, friends, aunts, neighbors, deceased or living... one blog post will get a woman's name in the search engines and make information about her accessible the world over, for years to come! You could give a woman fame, honor her. Think about it. I challenge you all to spread the word, let's start something new for International Women's Day. Let's all write a tribute about One Woman... let's start the One Woman event!

Let Jasia know what a great idea this is and then get thinking! You are all so creative and in many different ways. I would love to see your poems, photos and tributes!